The Shadows of Inaba
by IronChainDragon
Summary: Neither of them should still have existed, but they were still there. Saki's new classmate flirts with everyone, and the new first year can be even quieter than Yukiko. Still, when the supernatural starts happening, they know more about it than anyone, and are as prepared to fight it as anyone else.
1. Existence

Daichi: I've never seen these three interact before. I thought it would be fun.

Verity: Never mind everything else.

Daichi: I can't get this with what I currently have! At those points, Ryoji's already cut off from the physical plane, or Metis doesn't even exist!

Tsukaimon: None of us own this. It's just a sandbox, really.

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 **"Why are you here? You should be sealed with** ** _her._** **After all, what are you? Nothing."**

"Maybe. But I'm here, aren't I? Maybe it's not just the Velvet Room where everything happens for a reason." Blue eyes met yellow. The boy with golden eyes faded, leaving a monstrous creature in it's place.

"Thanatos, huh? Figures." He took a moment to observe his surroundings. He could tell there was fog, although he couldn't actually see it. It didn't matter.

Thanatos turned into a card, which the boy with blue eyes took out of the air. They moved forward.

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Why was she here? The last thing she could recall was reconciling with her sister... so, why did she still exist?

There were Shadows nearby. Everywhere, in fact. Something moved, and she immediately called upon Psyche, obliterating whichever poor Maya was there. Still, there was one Shadow here with a feel she recognized. Not from her own experience, but she still knew how dangerous he could be. And he was right there.

"Ryoji Mochizuki." She spoke his name before he appeared, but he seemed to have heard her.

"You know of me? It can't have been that long since the sealing, right?" She shook her head.

"It's a long story. I don't even know why I'm here."

"You either? Well, let's go together, then. Maybe we can figure something out." The offer seemed genuine, and she found herself weighing his words. Eventually, she nodded. "Really? That's good. I thought I was going to go mad from loneliness eventually. What's your name, anyway?"

"Metis."

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Neither of them knew how long they had been walking. They took occasional breaks to recover spiritual energy, but that was it. The only sign of time passing was the fog. Sometimes it would lift, and the Shadows would overcome their fear of them and attack. Suicide, really. Metis remained mostly silent, with Ryoji occasionally saying something to fill in the silence.

The fog had come and lifted five times when they met someone else. Over time, Shadow distribution had changed. The Mayas that they were used to seeing in the city gave way to the large-tongued Hablerie types that had occasionally roamed the countryside during Dark Hour. They didn't know where they were going, but continued moving.

Eventually, they stopped to rest in what seemed like an empty space, mostly void of Shadows. Mostly. Shadows were everywhere. Still, nothing seemed to be attacking them. That was when they heard something squeaking.

"Something's coming," Metis stated quietly. The being that came into view wasn't something that either of them recognized. Still, there was one thing that the two of them and the newcomer had in common.

"He doesn't have a mask, either," Ryoji remarked upon seeing the ridiculously cute Shadow's appearance.

"A mask? What do you mean?" The bear tipped his head to the side. Metis turned to Ryoji.

"Don't tell him. I think it would be too cruel. Even for you."

"Now, Metis, when have I ever appeared cruel?"

"You walked up to a random Magus and told it to die for you." The robot girl's eyes remained clear of all emotion as she looked at him.

"No, no, I had my Persona ask nicely. Just like Alice-sensei. But you're right. If he doesn't know, I don't see a need to tell him." He shrugged. "The masks don't matter. Just an observation. What are you, anyway?"

"Me? I'm a bear. Can't you tell?"

"A little. Anyway, I'm Ryoji Mochizuki, and this is my... friend, Metis. Do you have anything we can call you?" He ignored Metis' glares.

"My name's Teddie! I live here. It's good to meet you, Ryoji and Metty-chan!" The small Shadow's smile lit up his whole face.

"I like him," Ryoji stated. "Maybe we could stay a while longer?"

"We need to find our answers-" Metis cut off, seeing Teddie about to cry.

"You aren't going to leave me alone here, are you?"

"-But I don't the harm in sticking around," She conceded. "Admittedly, it would be better if we could find a way to the human's world. At least we'd have a break where we don't have to constantly stay on guard, there."

"Human world? You mean the place behind my portals?"

"Your portals?"

The bear nodded. "I can make portals to someplace besides here, but I can't really go through them myself. Maybe you can try? Oh! But you have to promise to come back, if you can. It's kinda lonely here."

"Let's consider this," Metis told Ryoji. "If we stay, we probably have a higher chance of finding something out, but a risk of death. The human world has less chance of contact with whatever bought us here-"

"-But has real food, a warm bed, actual social activity, and the worst that they can throw at us is a human murderer, wild animal, or school. And we can probably figure out a way back here. I have a bit of money that a Shadow dropped, we could use it for something."

"...Human world it is."

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"A television." Ryoji stuck his hand in the large television set. "We fell out of... a television. Admittedly, seeing those retro TVs that the bear summoned should have tipped us off."

"I wonder why we could come through when the creator of the portal couldn't come through himself."

"Probably something to do with the fact that we have Personas and he doesn't." Ryoji backed away. "So, I've tallied up my money, and we have enough for... one of us to go on a thirty-stop train ride, both of us to ride the train for fifteen stops, a night at an inn or hotel, or uniforms for the local school."

"If we do not know where we are, maybe we shouldn't take the train. And as I do not need a bed, holing up at the local tourist destination seems unwise..."

"So, you say we should see about getting an education?" He prayed that she had anything else to say, any better ideas.

"School has it's benefits. We can figure out how long we have been in the other world and blend in better with the general population." He'd been hoping she wouldn't say that.

"But where will we stay?"

Metis gestured at the television.

"You want us to go into a superstore every day just to go home?" Still, it seemed that they did not have any better ideas. So a plan was formed, and their new lives began in the town of Inaba.

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Daichi: Next time, we see Ryoji finish his second year education, while Metis gets to start at the end of her first year.


	2. Introduction

Daichi: There's a lot that's going on with them. All that we'll ever have to say.

Metis: She doesn't own us.

Daichi: I thought I'd finally gotten that fixed!

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"New transfers? This late in the year?"

"A second year and a first year, apparently."

"What do you think they are like?"

Said transfers were in no hurry. Metis followed closely behind Ryoji.

"About the years we've been entered into..."

"Second year's as far as my knowledge goes, and the sooner the both of us graduate, the sooner we have to become responsible, productive members of society."

Metis tried to imagine Ryoji as a responsible, productive member of society. Error. Data not found. "And my name?"

"You need a last name to get by in this society, and I know for a fact that nobody uses that one anymore."

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"Our class is getting the transfer? Did you hear that, Saki?" Saki nodded. Just one transfer was unusual. Two was rare. Three in the same year? Unnatural.

"With this late in the year, why did he even bother?" Her friend continued.

"Because he wants to actually sit exams?" She suggested. The class quieted.

"My name is Ryoji Mochizuki. It's good to be here." The boy took the empty seat behind her. She tried to ignore him.

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"Both of the first year transfers in our class?" Yukiko questioned quietly. Chie shrugged.

"Let her introduce herself."

"It's good to meet all of you. I'm Metis Yuki." She paused for a bit between her first and last names, as though unsure. Her eyes were a strange color, but Chie didn't seem to really notice.

The girl took a seat on the other side of the room from them. Still, something about her was... different. Yukiko just didn't know what.

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At lunchtime, Metis found Ryoji surrounded by girls. "We've been here for three days, and you're already flirting with the locals. Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"Who's this, Ryoji?"

"Oh, this is Metis. She's a... family friend staying at the same house as me."

"Which house is that?" A third year girl asked.

"Um... our host doesn't let us have friends over," Metis appreciated just how well Ryoji could lie on the spot. She knew very well that Teddie desired more company. "And I don't want stalkers."

"Didn't you used to stalk... my cousin?" She still tripped over her words, trying to figure out just what the Fool who shared her surname could conceivably be to her. Cousin sounded about right.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She sensed that he would rather be left alone with his adoring fangirls.

"Tone it down. Please," She begged him. It wasn't that she had a problem with it. It was just that she'd prefer not to attract attention.

...She needed new friends. Maybe those two girls over there would be pleasant company.

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"I'll tone it down," Ryoji stated after school ended.

"You tried hitting on Amagi in front of Satonaka?" She tried not to smile. Steering Chie and Yukiko in his direction might not have been the nicest thing to do, but she was sure that the other girls would thank her if they knew the kind of reputation he'd had at Gekkoukan. "I thought you were Death."

"I was. But the highest defense stat in the world cannot prevent the pain of a smashed-"

"I get it." She sighed. "Maybe I should get a job. If only so I don't have to be seen with you." Not because she didn't like him, but because she didn't want the attention, and there was sure to be a good job listed.

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"Nanako, this is Metis Yuki. She's your new afternoon babysitter. Yuki, this is my daughter, Nanako. You'll be looking after her in the afternoons for at least the next few months, more if my nephew can't be bothered to help." Ryotaro Dojima had been just about to give up the search for a caretaker for Nanako after the last one quit. It had been three weeks since then, and the transfer student was the only one to apply. At least this meant he didn't have to try to find a good day care that would stay open until he managed to get home.

"It's good to meet you Nanako-chan," Metis stated, trying to make her voice as non-robotic as she possibly could. There had been exactly one job listed, and that was work as a gas station attendant. Thankfully, she had run into a detective who had needed someone to look after his daughter when she got out from school. "I'm sure that we'll get along just fine."

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"Where's Metty-chan?" Teddie asked.

"I assume she's job hunting. Because normal teenagers have jobs. I should probably get one, too." Ryoji leaned back on the ground. "Maybe then we could afford blankets."

"What are blankets?"

"I keep forgetting you've never been to the human world. You know how, past a certain temperature, it gets uncomfortable?"

Teddie nodded. "My fur keeps me warm. Sometimes too warm."

"Well, blankets are meant to keep you from getting too cold."

"You can be too cold?" Ryoji reminded himself that his new friend was an ice elemental.

"Most of us do. Some people are resistant to certain extreme temperatures. That's why I want the blankets. I feel the cold as much as anyone." He adjusted his scarf. "That's why I wear this. It's to keep me warm." He was glad that his light weakness had no physical drawbacks. He'd hate to be weak to ice, because that would mean he'd need to wear his uniform jacket until late spring. Especially given that temperatures in Inaba were lower than they had been in Iwatodai.

The biggest downside to his true identity was that he was more susceptible to his elemental attributes than a human would be. Which, given his light weakness, wasn't much of a big deal.

Having spent so long in the human world, the fog felt oppressive. "I'll be gone for a bit," He stated, putting his textbook down.

"Why?"

"I'm going job hunting. I think Junes is hiring..."

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Daichi: Next time, we flash forward a bit. Inaba gets someone new moving in, Ryoji's already struggling with going easy on the flirting, and Saki Konishi's life changes forever.


	3. Destruction

Daichi: In which the world changes forever and nobody outside Inaba notices. Of course, none of the people in Inaba know they're going to school with a robot, so… it works out somehow, I guess?

Verity: We don't own anything.

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Souji Seta glanced down the streets of Inaba, still not entirely sure about the prospect of this next year. He wouldn't have to look after his cousin, apparently his uncle had hired a babysitter, which would leave him with more time, but… He decided to put it out of mind and go familiarize himself with the local area.

Soon enough, he saw the girl he had bumped into at the train station, talking to a boy with dark hair. Interested, he moved closer, to try and hear what they were saying. He didn't get that close, but he did see a spark of light between the two, and the boy's pained shout.

"Ow! Was that- was that Zio? How-?" The girl brushed him off, and walked away. She turned to Souji as she walked by.

"Do you have a problem?" She asked, tone cold as ice, and he realized that whatever she'd done to the other boy, she could probably do to him.

"No, not really."

"Good answer."

She walked away, and the other boy walked up to him, allowing him to see the unnaturally bright blue of his eyes. "She's pretty cold, isn't she? I've never seen her around before… or you, for that matter." Souji decided that it would probably be a good idea to introduce himself.

"I'm Souji Seta. I just moved here. I'll be a second year at Yasogami High this year."

"Huh. Four transfers in two years, to this small town. I didn't realize it'd be so popular. I'm Ryoji Mochizuki. A third year." The older student offered his hand, and Souji took it. "I suppose you don't know that many people yet."

Souji shook his head. "You're the first one I've talked to."

"Well, that just won't do. Come on, some of my friends are this way." Ryoji dragged Souji along before he even got the chance to say no. They approached a pair of siblings who seemed to be arguing over snacks. "Hey, Konishis!" They both turned around.

"Oh, great. It's Mochizuki…" The girl groaned. "What do you want?"

"I'm just showing the new kid around. Really, Saki-san, you make it sound like I have no manners."

"You do have no manners," The boy pointed out. He turned to Souji. "I'm Naoki Konishi, and that's my older sister, Saki. It's good to meet you." Saki and Ryoji had devolved into an argument, in that little space of time, about Ryoji's apparent tendency to flirt with anything that moved.

Souji got the feeling he was in for an interesting school year.

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When the world shifted around them, Metis wasn't entirely sure why she was the one to investigate. Oh, right. Because Ryoji had inadvertently taught Teddie how to flirt and was doing damage control. She doubted it would work, but at least he was trying.

Standing on a raised walkway, she remembered that, if the weather report was right, the fog would clear soon. So she kept her guard up, ready to summon Psyche at a moment's notice. She knew she'd probably have to. Most Shadows, without the fog, lacked even the simplest sense of self-preservation.

There was a crash from the end of the walkway, and a woman with dark hair ran out of one of the buildings. A human woman. That alone gave Metis pause, because she'd never seen an actual human there before.

Not that it mattered for long. There was a powerful gust of wind- a Garudyne spell, most likely, because there was never really wind- and while Metis was able to endure it, the woman went flying, right over the railing.

Of course, given that none if it was even meant to happen, there wasn't really much ignoring that.

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Saki couldn't ignore it either. Even with the fog, it was sort of hard to mistake for anything else. She fumbled for her phone, wondering why she had to be the one to do this.

Right. Because she was missing school to get to work early, and just so happened to choose a terrible path for being able to keep her peace of mind.

"Hello, Inaba Police Department? I've found a dead body."

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Metis glanced out the window. Still foggy. Apparently. It was like the fog in the other world, not able to be properly seen by Shadow eyes, but entirely capable of being sensed. Not that she particularly liked the way it felt. It was… oppressive, almost.

Not that the more mindless Shadows seemed to think so. Rather, it pacified them. So it was probably something about the conscious mind. The Kirijo Group would just love that information. Assuming the Kirijo Group knew anything about the world full of Shadows or the fog, and that was rather unlikely. Inaba was rather far from Iwatodai.

She turned back to the inside of the room, and watched Chie and Yukiko talking to the newest transfer student. The one that, on certain days, would be doing her job. Not every day, but often enough.

She didn't entirely mind, of course. She liked Nanako, but sometimes she enjoyed being able to go around town without a tiny follower.

The intercom came on, for the second time that day, to tell the students to go straight home. That was fine with her. What happened yesterday had shaken her somewhat, in the sense that it could have been averted if she'd been prepared for it. Of course, she knew she'd never have been able to see it coming.

Proper rest, being able to actually think for a bit, at least once enough fog had returned to the other world to not be beating off Shadows every five seconds, that sounded appealing. So she didn't pick up a fuss and went to find Ryoji.

"Saki-san already left," He told her, once she found him, although Naoki was there, and since the Shopping District wasn't really out of the way, Metis didn't mind that, either. Because something told her that, from now on, nothing would ever be the same.

And, as she would later find out, she was entirely correct.

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Verity: Because if anyone would get Marie to use her powers subconsciously to get him to go away, it's Ryoji.

Daichi: Next time, we get to see the immediate fallout. It's not pretty. And Saki has a very bad day.


	4. Insanity

Verity: We don't own anything here.

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If Saki had thought that the day before was bad, this day was just showing itself to get much worse. She hadn't actually thought it possible, given that she had discovered a murder victim, of all things, but it was.

It started with the fact that everyone was talking about it, although given that Inaba didn't often have something as interesting as a murder case going on, and it had happened the day before, it was just fine. Mostly.

Later, there was the interview. She had quickly come to realize exactly why nobody liked the local reporters. She was sure that somewhere out there, people could be interviewed for television without it turning unpleasant. Not in Inaba.

The fact that she recognized some of them as having just barely passed high school in previous years certainly didn't help, that was for sure. Simply put, it didn't seem like any of them had ever heard of the concept of professionalism.

And to top it all off, today she shared her shift with Mochizuki. Whatever she had done in a past life to deserve this, she felt she better have enjoyed It at the time.

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Souji was beginning to realize something about his classmates. First of all, that Chie, at least, was completely insane and probably not safe to be around. He wondered how he could have noticed before Yosuke, but decided that Yosuke just didn't know when to stop talking.

A lot of people he knew seemed to suffer from that, actually. That was probably something to concern himself with, but he just couldn't be bothered to care.

"Oh, it's Saki-senpai!" Souji turned, and yes, there was Saki Konishi, with Ryoji Mochizuki right behind her. He could already feel the headache.

"Hey, Hana-chan..." Saki didn't actually seem to be looking at Yosuke. In fact, she seemed like she wanted to be just about anywhere else. He knew the feeling. "Satonaka, Seta-san. Hana-chan didn't drag the two of you out here, did he?"

"He offered me food. Chie demanded he treat her as well," Souji explained. He poked at his decidedly unappetizing meal. Well, at least he wouldn't have to pay for it.

"...That does sound like Chie-chan," Ryoji admitted.

"What did you just say?"

"He's not exactly wrong," Yosuke pointed out. Souji got the feeling that, if this kind of thing continued, Yosuke was never going to have kids. Ryoji, he noted, was backing away slowly.

"I'd better get back to work," Saki decided, most likely seeing just how delicate the situation was. "Mochizuki, at least try to do the same at some point today." Yosuke watched her walk off, almost in a trance. Souji decided not to ask.

"It's like she has no confidence in my work ethic."

"What work ethic?" Yosuke asked. "The thing that keeps you employed is the fact that you aren't the worst we have."

"I'm afraid to ask."

"He means that I actually show up for work. There's supposed to be others here, but I think they're still at school." No, Souji had definitely not wanted to know. He also made a note that, as soon as the year was over, his sanity would best be preserved by never returning to Inaba.

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"Midnight Channel?" Metis asked. "Where did you hear about that?"

"I didn't realize it, but Chie-chan actually seems to know how to gossip. She was telling Hanamura and the newest transfer student." Metis sighed and reminded herself to see about finding Ryoji an actual hobby. Or, at least, a properly functioning work ethic.

"I believe you have homework. Wouldn't that be a better use of time? Especially as it is three hours until midnight?" Ryoji sighed and opened his textbook, muttering something about cruel teachers who assign long reading assignments on the second day.

"Say, where's Teddie?"

"He left to make sure that the world rearranging itself hasn't stirred up any more new Shadows. He's the only one of us they won't attack, after all." It was logic she was sure he wouldn't argue with, because he knew that doing so meant volunteering himself. They didn't want a repeat of that swarm of hands that went unnoticed for over a month, after all.

The only good thing about that incident had been the sheer amount of money those ridiculously powerful Shadows had dropped, and even a lot of that went into bandages and spare parts. So they weren't eager for another experience like that one.

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Saki wondered, again, just what she had done to deserve three horrible days in a row. Well, at least, she thought it was three. It depended on how long she'd been unconscious. She didn't even remember how she'd gotten there.

Well, she knew a few things. She'd left work on schedule, she remembered checking out well enough. She might even have made it to the shopping distict, although she was just a bit less sure about that. She thought she might have stopped to talk to someone, but that part was a blur.

Now? Fog. Fog as far as the eye could see. And she was still tired, or maybe it was a headache. She couldn't tell. She pushed herself up, tried to see if there was any place she recognized. There was a ripple, and things shifted, and she found herself just outside some strange fascimile of the shoppind district.

Well, she supposed that was as good as anything.

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"My TV tried to eat me last night." Souji didn't expect anyone to believe him. A few desks over, Metis began packing her things more quickly, though he didn't think anything of it.

"So, you fell asleep in front of the television?"

"I have a bruise on my shoulder. I can show it to you."

"Why would you have a bruise?" Yosuke asked.

"Because my television is about the size of a backpack?" He suggested. Not that it helped them believe him, of course.

The fact that they fell into another television set at Junes probably helped, though.

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Daichi: Next time, we see Teddie's first encounter with actual humans. And why fighting a boss with only a dedicated Mudo user is a bad idea.


	5. Devastation

Daichi: And this is where things start changing. Not that it's the most interesting planned change, the Gekkoukan trip's going to be fun...

Verity: We don't own anything.

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Souji pushed himself up, and tried to figure out where he was. Except for the little problem of being completely surrounded in fog. That was strange. It wasn't supposed to fog up again for another five hours.

Souji reminded himself that he had just fallen through a television set, and that maybe trying to apply reality was a bad idea. "Are you two okay?"

"I'm fine," Chie stated. Yosuke just groaned. Today just wasn't their day, it seemed. At least there was a conveniently placed mattress.

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Ryoji enjoyed his days off. They were a chance to relax, even if he generally didn't return home for some time for the sake of not sitting in an empty space filled with fog.

Okay, so it was apparently a TV studio, now. That didn't change the fact that there was nothing to do aside from homework, and he'd never enjoyed homework. Metis did, but he suspected that she used the internet to cheat, at least when she was in a place that got internet.

Today, however, didn't seem like one where he would get to relax. "Um... Mochizuki-senpai?" Naoki asked, "Have you seen my sister at all today?"

He'd noticed that Saki wasn't in class. It was hard not to notice, given that she normally sat in front of him. "She didn't come to school. The last time I saw her, our shift had just ended."

Naoki frowned at that. "I was hoping you knew where she was. She never came home last night, and I'm kind of worried. Especially since..." Ryoji had been trying not to think about that.

Well, he had a plan for his day, now. Find Saki Konishi. Even if he had to search two worlds to do it.

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Souji kept one hand gripping the railing at all times. Things were just falling apart right now. Yosuke was panicking, Chie seemed to be too curious for her own good, and he just wanted to go home. Preferably to someplace that things made sense, although he wasn't entirely sure such a place existed in Inaba.

At least they'd left the room with the noose in it. That had just been creepy.

"So, which direction did we come in from, again?" Yosuke asked.

"Up."

"...Besides that." Souji shrugged, although he wasn't certain that the others could see it. He could barely make out their outlines in the fog.

"I think it was... east, maybe?" Chie suggested. It did seem to be as good an idea as any.

As they walked, eventually Souji began to hear an odd squeaking noise. "Do either of you hear that?"

He thought Chie nodded, but couldn't really be sure. "It's getting closer." A round shape appeared in the fog, although Souji couldn't quite think of what it might be.

"Who are you guys? Did you fall through a portal or something?" The creature tilted his head to the side, voice questioning.

"It was his fault!" Chie immediately declared, pointing at Souji. "He's the one that opened the portal."

"You and Yosuke knocked into me. I wouldn't be here otherwise." Yosuke, meanwhile, buried his face in his hands.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten up today... so... Mr. Bear... do you know a way out of here?" The bear- and Souji was surprised Yosuke could tell what he was, given that he could barely see- nodded.

"I've still got a portal open from this morning. Follow me. My name's Teddie, by the way." It didn't occur to any of them to ask why Teddie would have opened a portal that morning. With Souji, at least, it was because he was simply too tired to care.

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Ryoji had looked everywhere for Saki, and came to the conclusion that she was not, in fact, in Inaba. Which was bad, given the circumstances. The most likely place for her to be was in the other world, and as far as he knew, she didn't have a Persona.

If he could find the television she fell through, he'd be able to get directly to her location. It was someplace between Junes and the liquor store... which really didn't narrow it down all that much. There were far too many paths she could possibly have taken.

In the end, he decided to walk the equivalent distance in the Shadow world and see if Teddie could catch her scent. It was a lot more reliable than wandering aimlessly, and they could get her out immediately if things started going wrong.

Because of course they would.

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Saki didn't like this place much. The voices were one thing. She knew people said those things about her. They said the same about everyone else who worked at Junes except for Ryoji, and most of them didn't know Ryoji, or had some other reason to complain about him.

The odd creatures there, though... she noticed another one of those balls with the giant tongues and ducked back into the false version of her home.

 **"They won't go away, you know,"** Her lookalike stated, leaning back on the counter. The other Saki had showed up several hours ago, and also wouldn't leave. Or just shut up. **"And nobody's going to find you here. Not that many of them would go looking."**

She wasn't sure that was true. She thought that her parents might care, if she went missing. Her brother, certainly. The police would go looking, if only because it was their jobs. Everyone else? She didn't know.

"She's right this way!" Saki didn't recognize that voice, but it sounded like someone was coming. The other her dropped her composure for a moment. She would have made a run for it if she weren't worried about tripping over something or someone in the fog.

"Thanks, Teddie. Now, stay outside for a bit, okay? I'll need you on hand if things get bad." She knew that voice. She didn't know why Ryoji would be there, though.

"But there's a powerful Shadow in there! How can I help?"

"You can give us a quick retreat, and once we're gone, the Shadow won't hurt you." That said, Ryoji stepped in the door. Saki really didn't know what to think at this point. "Hey, Saki-san. How did you get here?"

 **"Oh, it's Mochizuki. Tell me, do you expect him to actually** **be able to help? He can't even be bothered to work for half an hour without being distracted by a pretty girl."**

"I'm not that bad..." Both Sakis glared at him. "I tried to tone it down... for a month... I'm just making this worse, aren't I?"

 **"You know, he's even more annoying than Hana-chan. At least he has an excuse for being so irritating. Mochizuki's just a pest!"**

"That's not true..."

 **"Then** **why are you thinking it? Don't forget, I'm you. I know how you feel about people. And we are sick of the shenanigans pulled by Ryoji Mochizuki!"**

"Sh-shut up! There's no way... you can't be me!" The other girl laughed, and the room's sole human realized she had made a grievous error about the same time the glowing dragon knocked an entire shelf down on top of her.

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It was immune to Mudo. Of course it was immune to Mudo. Why wouldn't it be? Everything else was, that had a decent amount of strength and that he would actively challenge.

He couldn't even concern himself with that at the moment, because he was busy dodging Agi spells, picking the shelf off of Saki, who looked to have a broken arm to go with the cuts from broken glass, and trying not to get her lit on fire by the residue of said Agi spells mixing with alcohol. It wasn't entirely working, but she was still alive, if rather burnt, and he'd take what he could get.

He didn't like physical skills much. They were far too messy for his tastes, and required being relatively close to the enemy. But given that Shadow Saki seemed to be charging up a Mahamaon, well... what did he have to lose?

"Okay, change of plans, Thanatos! Tempest Slash!" At least the dragon had lost her concentration. The attack wasn't anywhere near as powerful as it could have been. This was bad, as he was working on a time limit. The fog would clear in less than an hour. At that point, every Shadow in the area would converge on their location.

At times like this, Ryoji wished he knew somebody with Dia spells. Or that he had a proper weapon. Preferably both. Though he did have one type of magic that would still work, If a bit too destructive to be practical in just about any setting.

"Megidola!" The dragon was gone, and the Shadow of Saki remained. The human Saki shifted, but couldn't quite get up.

"That... it's not..." Ryoji sighed.

"If it helps, I met one of these my first time here, too. That's how I got Thanatos, actually... by confronting the side of myself I wish wasn't there. And I know I tend to rub people the wrong way." He shuddered, remembering Aigis. "You shouldn't worry so much about it."

"So that... that really is me? I... maybe she did have a point..." Ryoji didn't know what Saki's new Persona was called. He didn't particularly care, either. So long as they got out, and he could call an ambulance, everything would be fine.

Perhaps, if he kept telling himself that, it would even become true.

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Daichi: Next time, we see the fallout from Saki ending up in the hospital... she's not returning to school anytime soon. Also, Souji and Ryoji have their first meeting inside the television.


	6. Consequential

Daichi: So, to determine who the focal point of this chapter will be…

Verity: You flipped a coin. There's no need to make it seem dramatic.

Tsukaimon: We don't own this stuff. We do have a copy of the game… and Persona Q… but that's about it.

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Souji had, when he woke up that morning, decided to try and forget that yesterday had ever happened. Between how bizarre it was in the other world, the equally strange bear that had gotten them out, and the fact that he could conceivably go the rest of his life without accidentally sticking anything else in the television, he thought it was very doable.

Assuming Chie and Yosuke never brought it up again, of course, but he figured that whatever caused the people in Inaba to be completely insane would not be that bad. Unless it was something to do with the other world that they had fallen into and been directly exposed to.

So, no, there was no forgetting about any of it.

"Hey, isn't that Saki-senpai's brother?" Yosuke asked. "And there's Mochizuki-senpai and Metis. I wonder what they're talking about." As they got closer, Souji could hear exactly what they were talking about.

"- numerous cuts, equally numerous burns, and a concussion," Ryoji finished. "Also, she hasn't woken up yet after she passed out waiting for the ambulance, but that's probably more a symptom of exhaustion than anything… I hope."

Metis just sighed. "I don't know what I was expecting. She will be fine, right?"

"Most likely. Oh, Hanamura!" He noticed them and called them over. "Could you tell the boss that Saki-chan won't be coming in to work again for the foreseeable future? She's kinda hospitalized."

"Yeah, okay- wait, what!?" Souji winced as Yosuke lost all semblance of volume control. "Why was she hospitalized?"

"She fell into a television," Metis stated, completely deadpan. Souji was pretty sure she was only being sarcastic.

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Yosuke wasn't. As a matter of fact, Souji was correcting his earlier assessment. It wasn't just Chie who was insane, clearly, Yosuke was crazy as well.

"Yosuke… Maybe Yuki-san just has a terrible sense of humor. It doesn't mean that we should just randomly be jumping into television sets," He pleaded, begging whatever of the other boy's sanity remained that they wouldn't have to do this.

"He's obsessed," Chie groaned. "I don't think we'll be able to stop him."

"If anything happens, we do have weapons."

"A wrench and a golf club." Souji buried his face in his hands. "We're actually doing this, then? I can't convince you otherwise?"

He'd known that this was going to be a bad day. Yosuke literally dragging him into the T.V. only solidified it.

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"Yosuke."

"What?"

"I think I hate you."

"Why?"

"You dragged me into the electronics department and asked Chie to kick me in along with you. Just because she seems dead set on removing your ability to reproduce doesn't mean you have to involve me. And I can't see a portal out. Or Teddie."

Yosuke laughed nervously. "Okay, so I may not have entirely thought this through…"

Well, now that they were stuck there for the time being, Souji figured there was little point in yelling. Odds were it would attract the wrong sort of attention… if anything but the bear lived there, anyway.

He also decided there was no point in sticking around the same place. He wasn't sure why Yosuke had followed him, but he supposed it wasn't all bad.

At least it made sure they were together for the inevitable monster attack.

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Souji wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to make it to the… he'd say it was a perfect imitation of the shopping district, except for the small issue of the sky… without dying to the myriad monsters scattered about. But they had, somehow.

"We're lost. In a world of monsters and fog that makes my head hurt. This is entirely your fault, Hanamura."

"Why is it my fault?"

"This was your idea."

"You didn't have to come with me!"

"Have you met Chie?" Souji was then distracted from the conversation by yet another monster attack. Of course, it being just one tongue-ball meant a single blast of lightning would handle it. "...Why did it vaporize everything but the tongue?"

Yosuke poked it. "I think it's made of rubber or something. Feels like it."

"Yosuke, why are you touching the- nevermind." He shook his head, reminding himself that the residents of Inaba were all insane. The tongue wriggled- completely on its own- and Yosuke abruptly stopped poking it.

"Okay, that's just weird. Maybe we should consider leaving." The only thing stopping Souji from yelling at Yosuke was the fact that he could hear something from farther in. Voices.

"Do you hear that?"

"It sound like it's coming from the liquor store." They walked down the street, Yosuke showing Souji where to go, until they arrived.

"You'd think that somewhere this full of enemy Shadows would have some decent loot," he heard. He knew that voice.

"Mochizuki-senpai?" He asked. A moment later, the boy in question appeared.

"I need to have words with Metis about her sense of humor…" He muttered. "And I'd been hoping we'd be able to pass it off as sarcasm."

"What are you doing here?" Yosuke asked.

"Trying to figure out why my friend was presumably shoved into a television. Not that I expected to find anything... Oh, have you seen a blue bear around anywhere?"

"Not since yesterday," Souji replied. "Do you need him for anything?"

"...I sort of ditched him here yesterday so I could get Saki-chan to the hospital, and the portal out vanished a few hours ago. Wait, you were here yesterday?"

"For ten minutes." Souji's headache flared up again, and he winced. "Do you have any painkillers or anything?"

"You're not even asking how he's here! Don't you find that a little bit suspicious?" Yosuke complained, before groaning. "My head does hurt, though…"

"That'll be the fog. Humans aren't meant to be in it for long. I think Teddie has a solution, but that requires we find him… do you want to help? Shadow giblets sell for a lot at the weapons shop!"

Souji blinked. "There is so much wrong with that statement, I don't know where to start."

"That's funny. Makoto used to say the exact same thing."

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Daichi: Next time, the hunt for Teddie. And meeting Shadow Yosuke. While half of the group is suffering from a… well, it can't be a blinding headache in the fog, can it?


	7. Lingering

Daichi: Now, returning to your normally scheduled crazy train.

Verity: We own nothing.

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"So, you have Personas, right?" Ryoji asked, hoping that the answer was 'yes'. It was bad enough that humans were there to begin with. They didn't need to be helpless, too.

"I have one, Yosuke doesn't," Souji replied. Better than nothing, at least.

"What kind?"

"Izanagi. Lightning." Okay, that was good. "Also, Fool Arcana, whatever that means." Better? Worse? He didn't even know. There wasn't exactly a large sample size.

"Have you been to a place called the Velvet Room, by any chance?" Like he didn't know the answer. A Fool shows up, and the world starts changing. That was just how things were.

"...Once. I thought it was just a dream." Ryoji sighed. There went any chance of a relatively normal year. He wondered what a peaceful life would be like.

Probably boring.

"Yeah, Igor does that. His own master asked me to deliver a contract for him once, spiralled into averting the apocalypse. They're overly cryptic, but far too helpful to ignore."

"Igor? Velvet Room?" Yosuke asked, reminding Ryoji that there was a normal in the area and that maybe they shouldn't have been talking so loudly. Even with Shadow Saki gone, the area was still full of Shadows.

Souji groaned. "Is now really the time? I literally just realized that it even actually happened. We're surrounded by fog, and still have no idea what's going on, with the exception of hopefully Mochizuki-senpai." Yeah, maybe leaving them clueless was a bad idea. He did not want to be responsible for a new Persona User getting in over his head.

So he set into an admittedly-abridged explanation of the world around them.

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In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have left Teddie alone like he did. The little bear was more than capable of finding his way home, and wouldn't be attacked, but his sense of time wasn't the greatest given that this world had no day or night, and they had yet to find a watch that would fit him.

In addition, he was now carting around one newbie Persona User and a normal person, who were human and therefore unable to see through the fog. And the only one who had a possible solution was currently missing.

Ryoji supposed he had brought in on himself, and Metis had already chewed him out for it, but they were asking him to be responsible. There was a reason it was the robot who handled their budget.

"So, how do you know Teddie, anyway?" Yosuke asked. "Did you just fall in here one day like we did, or-"

"I live here," He replied. If they were going to come in very often- Souji was a Fool, of course they would- than he might as well not try to hide it.

"I thought you said you lived with Yuki-san."

"I do. We live here. She has a Persona, too. We're actually strong enough that most of the time, the Shadows don't bother trying to fight us. They just run right in the opposite direction."

Souji paused. "That reminds me… just how many Persona Users are there, anyway? In Inaba, at least."

Ryoji shrugged. "Us, Metis, presumably whoever's throwing people into television sets and, as of last night, Saki-chan."

"Senpai has a Persona? How did she get it?" Yosuke asked, completely failing to mask his excitement at the possibility of superpowers, even with what Ryoji assumed to be a killer headache.

"She faced her inner demons and came out on top."

Souji winced. "Yeah, really glad I didn't have to do that."

"Come on! That sounds easy!"

" **Oh? Is it, now?"** And cue Shadow Yosuke. Because today clearly needed to make itself even more difficult.

Maybe it was time to look into life insurance.

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"So, it's not that easy, is it, Yosuke?" Souji snapped, bracing himself for yet another column of wind. "Mochizuki-senpai, do something!" Ryoji was- well, Souji couldn't see him, but in this fog, that meant nothing.

"I would, if this battlefield had any sort of good footing! My magic doesn't work on him!" Shadow Yosuke had started by knocking over several walls, and the collateral damage had just gotten worse from there.

"How do you know that? You didn't even try!"

"Instant death magic doesn't work on Shadows above a certain size! And that's all the magic Thanatos has!" Said Persona made a brief appearance, if only to shield its wielder from the next burst of wind. "You have good magic, blast him with lightning!" Right. Magic. That thing he could now apparently use.

What he wouldn't give to be normal. But that had apparently gone out the window when he made the mistake of answering an odd boy on the street. Not even then, but during his first dream of the Velvet Room, before he could set foot in Inaba in the first place.

Nice to know his sanity was apparently a lost cause from the start. "Izanagi! Zio!" He wasn't sure why the frog fell to the ground twitching. The attack hadn't been all that strong. Not that he was complaining. The Shadow was annoying.

"Wow! That was a beary powerful attack!" A new voice- Teddie. He'd shown up while they were fighting the Shadow that had appeared while they were searching for him. All Yosuke's fault, of course. Even if it weren't his Shadow, he was the one who tempted fate so blatantly, given that their lives seemed to have suddenly turned into some kind of horror game.

"And there's our possible escape route," Ryoji remarked. Souji was pretty sure the other Persona User was grinning, though he couldn't actually tell. "Where have you been?"

"I should be asking you that!" The little bear shot back. "You left me here and never came back!"

"I had to take Saki-chan to the hospital! And don't say you couldn't find the way back- we both know your nose is better than that!"

"Um… shouldn't we be focusing on… I don't know… the strongest Shadow I've ever seen?" Not that he'd seen many Shadows so far- just the ones he'd met on the way here, and they weren't all that powerful.

Thanatos appeared and cleaved Shadow Yosuke down the middle, returning him to his human imitation. "How's that?"

Souji was officially done with this town.

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Verity: ...To be fair, I would be, too.

Daichi: Next time, we get to see the official formation of an actual team… such as it is, anyway. They're not very cohesive, in case you hadn't noticed.


	8. Cooperation

Daichi: Might as well get things moving a bit more, maybe reach proper plot advancement at some point… more specifically, how far I can get things off the rails before Izanami gets too upset.

Verity: We don't own this stuff… be very grateful for that.

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With the glasses that Teddie had provided on the way back, Souji was more able to appreciate the world around him… well, appreciate might not have been the right word for it. Comprehend, more like.

Amongst other things, he now completely believed that this world was where Ryoji and Metis made their home, if only because the area he and Yosuke were led back to actually looked lived-in. Well, as much as a tv station could, anyway. A couple of mattresses covered in blankets and clothing, a discarded schoolbag lying off to the side, a pack of batteries next to a portable game console…

"It doesn't look like much, does it?" Ryoji idly commented. "But it's cheaper than an apartment, which helps when none of us can actually cook. I tried, once. It came out like something Fuuka-chan would make."

Souji wasn't sure who this Fuuka was, but decided to take the older boy's word for it. He'd had his own experiences with bad food thanks to the back of his refrigerator, anyway.

"Yeah, can't imagine you'd live here if you had another choice," Yosuke remarked. "I feel drained just being here."

"Here, have a soda." Souji blinked at the cans that Ryoji had somehow produced from nowhere. "Don't worry about the cans. Just toss them outside of the station when you're done, and they should vanish within an hour or so."

"Hey, thanks!" Yosuke grabbed a can and popped it open. However, Souji was a bit more hesitant.

"Where did you get these?"

"Vending machines. Practically live off of them."

"...That can't be healthy."

"Probably not," The blue-eyed Persona User agreed. "Easier than takeout, though. Do you know how hard it is to get people to deliver to random televisions?" He was pretty sure that was a joke. Maybe.

"Aren't you going to ask them what they're doing here?" Teddie asked. "For all we know, they could be the ones messing stuff up!"

"Why would we throw Saki-senpai into a television? Yosuke likes her." Souji immediately ducked, letting Jiraiya's gust of wind pass harmlessly through the space above his head. He considered retaliating with Izanagi, but thought better of it. Breezes were a lot easier to control than electric shocks.

"Right, sorry," The bear laughed. "It's just… this place used to be so peaceful. Sure, the Shadows didn't like it when the fog left, but we could do things without worrying about if they'd attack us."

"Saki-chan denied her Shadow, too," Ryoji explained. "She survived because I was there with Teddie and Thanatos. Metis came across the announcer, the day before her body was found, but she was blown away."

"So, whoever it is knew that this world could hurt people, even kill them, and still threw Saki-senpai in?"

"Most likely. Don't worry about it, though. Metis and I can probably handle most Shadows, you don't have to get involved." That sounded nice. He could just go home, pretend none of the past few days had ever happened… constantly worry about just what was going on.

"Senpai, that doesn't sound like the best idea," Souji pointed out. "I mean, you and Yuki-san probably have it hard enough trying to survive here. And it's not just this side being affected."

"You want to help us?" Teddie bounced on the spot in glee.

"I'm pretty sure I've actually cracked, but…"

"You're absolutely sure about this?" Ryoji's eyes flashed, but with what, Souji couldn't say. "Once you get deep enough down this rabbit hole of Shadows and Personas, there's no coming out."

"I'm sure." He wasn't, not really, but he felt he was being pulled in this direction by some force he could only vaguely notice. "Yosuke?"

"I'm in." And that was that.

He barely even noticed the voices talking about the Fool Arcana.

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The hospital was far from a cheery place at the best of times. Saki had never given it much thought, before, but barely being able to move gave someone a lot of time to think. Even if she still wasn't entirely sure why she was there in the first place.

The slight memory loss could probably be explained by the concussion. Maybe. The mind-numbing fog might have had something to do with it as well, but she was pretty sure it was the concussion, because there was no way Ryoji could actually do something that awesome.

Except she couldn't have hallucinated the whole thing, or she wouldn't have Kuebiko. Not that she was sure whether having him would be a good thing or not just yet. It hadn't even been a day, after all.

People were already wondering how she'd gotten so badly injured. She claimed not to remember anything, because a vague blur and whatever that foggy Inaba was made a lot less sense than forgetting everything due to a concussion, even if it meant her parents worried more.

As if there was anything to worry about, really. Whoever it was wouldn't have sent her there if they had a better option, and she felt she could defend herself now, the thing that had once been the greatest danger to her now locked safely away inside her head. Well… she could defend herself if she could move. Okay, she could see how there might be a bit of a problem.

Not that anybody showed up. No, it was just her, sitting there and wondering just what had even happened. Ryoji had told her not to worry, that he'd figure everything out. It would probably have helped if she had a lot more faith in Ryoji.

It was decided, then. As soon as she could, she'd figure out if there was anything she could do herself.

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Verity: With her scarecrow that has barrier skills and no elemental attacks but Hama. I think that's the farthest you can get from being a frontline fighter without being a Scanner.

Daichi: Hey, not everyone can be Naoto. Next time, the party tries to recruit Chie with promises of meat. It's probably not going to end well.


	9. Convalescence

Daichi: Time to see them try and recruit Chie with promises of meat! And the rails get farther and farther off into the distance.

Verity: You can see why we don't own these things.

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"...And that's about it," Yosuke finished. Souji stood nearby, begging every god that he'd ever heard of that Chie wouldn't think they were crazy… or try to kill them for leaving her out of an adventure that basically granted them superpowers. He wouldn't put it past her.

"So, you just… agreed to help?"

"We also maybe kinda-sorta volunteered you."

"He volunteered you," Souji corrected. "I tried, and failed, to talk them out of it." Chie's eyes narrowed. "On the bright side, there's a chance you could develop a Persona as well."

"And why, exactly, should I do this?"

"We'll buy you dinner." Souji resolved to never let Yosuke speak in his place again.

"Deal." His poor wallet…

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"Midnight Channel, huh…?" Ryoji mused. Metis looked up from her homework.

"Do you really want to be caught at Junes this late?"

"It's not like we haven't snuck out before the sun was up, before."

"...We need a new television set," The robot girl stated. "If only so you don't get arrested doing something stupid, like waving swords around in the food court."

"What's a food court?" Teddie asked.

"It's a place where people go to eat," Ryoji explained. "Not a place where you want to show off weapons. I'm not sure who would do that, honestly… maybe something like that girl who used Zio on me?"

"What girl?" Metis asked. Ryoji paused, realizing that he'd never thought to tell his 'roommates' about his encounter in the Shopping District. Given the signs of her use of magic, a fairly glaring oversight that he'd have to look into later.

"I'm… not really sure. She just showed up in the middle of town. I tried talking to her, but-"

"Talking to her, or hitting on her?"

"Does it really matter?" He wasn't interested in having Metis more upset with him than she had to be- and she had the right to be, after he'd wandered off, lost Teddie, and stayed in the human world overnight.

"One version is malevolent, while the other one is simply asking for basic human decency." He'd pretend to be offended, but he knew his track record spoke against him.

"...Okay, there may have been a touch of flirting."

"That does explain it," Metis nodded, turning back to her work. "Try not to provoke any deities in the next week- I imagine you'd like to have more than a month total at school this year."

Sometimes, Ryoji wished Metis was more like a normal robot. This wasn't quite one of those times, but it was rather close.

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"Welcome back to the Velvet Room." Souji glanced around. Blue. Blue everywhere. "Do not worry, you are fast asleep in the real world. I have called you here from your dreams." Which really did not reassure him that he hadn't just gone crazy, but after today, that didn't seem to matter so much.

"I'm inclined to ask why." Now that he bothered looking, there were two more people in the Velvet Room. One a woman with long silver hair, and the other the girl that he'd met the other day.

One that, now that he thought back, he realized had been accused of using a lightning spell on Ryoji's hand. Not that he could blame her if she did- he was annoyingly upbeat. And, sometimes, just plain annoying.

"Huh? Why are you looking at me?" She asked, her emerald-green eyes flashing with something dangerous.

"N-no reason. You were talking to Ryoji-senpai the other day, weren't you?"

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Please excuse Marie," The woman stated before the conversation could advance any farther. "Her soul is still very young, and she-"

"I don't need you to talk for me," Marie huffed, pointedly looking anywhere but at the other people in the limo.

"...Very well. I am Margaret, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Same here… I think." Was it too late to just turn and run out of Inaba? Probably. He'd agreed to a supernatural murder investigation, after all.

On the other hand, if half of the things that Igor ended up telling him about his powers were true, at least he'd be getting something interesting out of the deal after all.

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Saki knew, from the start, that she couldn't tell anyone about there being another, fog-covered world inside of the television. Beyond the fact that it sounded crazy, and she herself only knew it was real because of the scarecrow inside her heart, if all it took to get powers was to hop through a television… she'd rather not be the cause for such knowledge becoming a common thing. No, she did not need responsibility for half the world deciding to go mad with power.

Nobody minded that she said she didn't remember anything between walking home and when Ryoji found her, and that her memories of both were foggy. It wasn't entirely a lie, either. They just wrote it off to the concussion and left it at that.

And left her, come to that. People were busy, and there wasn't time for them to spend the whole day with her. Which was a shame, because her head was still rather fuzzy, but-

"Saki-senpai?" She hadn't been expecting Yosuke to show up. Yes, she'd known about his little crush, but it was just that. A crush. "Mochizuki-senpai asked me to bring you this."

Oh. Her homework. "He couldn't be bothered to just do it himself?"

"More like he forgot…" Yosuke chuckled, and she found herself smiling as well, because Ryoji was the type of person it was far too easy to laugh at. Sort of like Yosuke himself. "...He told me about what happened, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"With your Shadow. I- I ended up facing mine, too… only it was for a stupid reason. I got Jiraiya out of it, but… it really puts it in perspective, doesn't it? Just how… silly everything was. And I just… I wanted to apologize. For, you know, bugging you all the time. I always knew you didn't like me back, but..." He shrugged. "...I don't even know what I'm saying anymore."

"If that's the case, you should probably stop talking."

"Yeah… I probably should."

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The electronics section at Junes was very rarely frequented by more than one person at a time, other than the dates of major video game releases. Sure, there were sales and such at times, for for the most part, it was the loneliest place in store, so much so that there were only two security cameras. And Ryoji knew where both of them were. As much as it mattered to someone who could decide whether or not he showed up on film, anyway.

But he still enjoyed the idea of sneaking about, no matter how many times he'd actually done so before. As such, he'd elected to spend the night in a blind spot, huddled up with his scarf just across from his portal 'home', such as it were.

Trying to be somewhat careful about this, he listened to make sure it was still raining, glanced at a nearby clock to see it was almost midnight, and confirmed that the full scope of his powers as Death hadn't returned and that the world wasn't just going to turn green.

That last one was probably unnecessary, but, well, it couldn't hurt to check.

Peace of mind restored, he settled back, just in time to watch the screen in front of him turn itself on.

Well, there was definitely some otherworldly influence there, no doubt about it. The real question was… what to do next?

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Verity: The question asked by everyone who goes off the rails. More or less.

Daichi: Something like that. Next time, we get to see discussion about the Midnight Channel by people who have no clue how it works.


End file.
